Europe's newest river cruise line will bring fleet up to seven with latest additions
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Emerald Waterways is to add two more river cruise vessels to its European fleet in 2017.
In addition to Emerald Belle, which will debut on Europe’s Rhine and Danube rivers in 2016, the company will launch Emerald Liberté on the Rhône and Saône rivers in France, and the Emerald Radiance on Douro River in Portugal. The new Star Ships will bring Emerald’s total fleet to seven and will be smaller versions of the original design to fit with the rivers’ structures.
Emerald Liberté will carry 138 guests in 70 suites and staterooms, while Emerald Radiance will sail with 112 guests in 56 suites and staterooms, both with a three-to-one guest-crew ratio. All cabins will offer an indoor balcony with a decked area and a new open-air system.
Emerald Radiance will also debut a new stateroom category with 330 sqft of living space and floor-to ceiling windows on two sides.
Both ships will feature two dining venues – Reflections and The Terrace – as well as an onboard hairdresser, massage therapy room, a fitness area, and bicycles that can be used for free while onshore. Emerald Liberté will feature a swimming pool with a retractable glass roof, which transforms into a cinema in the evening, however Emerald Radiance’s pool will not be on the top deck and will not hold a cinema.
Guests sailing on Emerald Radiance will call at various destinations along the Douro river including the UNESCO World Heritage city of Porto, the Roman settlement at Regua, as well as Vega de Terron and Salamanca in Spain. Highlights will include Portuguese cooking and cocktail demonstrations, the Coa Valley Museum, tapas tastings, and dinner at a traditional local wine estate.
Meanwhile, those sailing onboard Emerald Liberté will be able to spend eight days travelling from Lyon to Arles on the Rhône and Saône in France. The vessel will call at Chalon-Sur-Saône, Tournon and Avignon, enabling guests to tour castles, palaces, the Hospices de Beaune, and Arles’s 2,000-year-old Roman Amphitheatre, still in use today. Guests will also be able to enjoy various onshore and onboard wine, cheese and olives tasting sessions.